Attacks by groups of "hoodies" have frequently hit the headlines in recent months, while the "happy slapping" craze - where youngsters film assaults on their mobile phones - has also fuelled public fears.

However Peter Dunn, head of research and development at Victim Support, said it had to be remembered that the majority of the victims of young offenders were themselves youngsters.

Speaking at the national conference at the University of Warwick University, Mr Dunn said: "There is a problem with youth crime - there always has been.

"A lot of young people only get involved in crime for a few years and then they grow out of it. That has always been the case - I'm not sure it is any different now to how it was ten, 20, even 30 years ago.

"People treated the punk movement as the end of civilisation as we knew it, similarly so with 'hoodies' now - they are presented as the biggest threat.

"It is a threat that needs to be taken seriously and a lot of people are victimised by young people, but very often those most likely to be victims are other young people."